Kobe Confirms 2016 Retirement; Shares Lessons From Michael Jackson

With one season left on his $25 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, it’s widely assumed Kobe Bryant will retire after the 2016 season. Despite being voted by fans to play in the 2015 NBA All-Star Game and surpassing Michael Jordan’s mark of 32,292 career points, Bryant has suffered season ending injuries during his last two campaigns with the Lakers. The Hollywood Reporter recently ran a Q&A with Bryant under the headline, “Kobe Bryant Confirms He’s Quitting Basketball After One More Season.” But Bryant never mentioned quitting basketball anywhere in the article, instead focusing on his documentary with Gotham Chopra. One revelation the interview did provide was how Bryant drew inspiration from a somewhat atypical source for an athlete.

“Michael [Jackson] is one of my mentors,” Bryant revealed. “When I was 18, he introduced me to his muses. I had never seen a Fred Astaire film…I wanted to know how he sold 50 million albums, so he walked me through how he prepares, how he trains, how he writes, how he studies.”

Those training and preparation methods will presumably be showcased in Bryant’s upcoming Showtime documentary with Chopra entitled Kobe Bryant’s Muse. The doc is scheduled to air February 28. The full Q&A with Bryant and Chopra can be read at HollywoodReporter.com.